Procedure for generating operational ballistic capture transfer using a computer implemented process

Abstract

A method generates an operational ballistic capture transfer for an object emanating substantially at earth or earth orbit to arrive at the moon or moon orbit using a computer implemented process. The method includes the steps of entering parameters including velocity magnitude VE, flight path angle gammaE, and implementing a forward targeting process by varying the velocity magnitude VE, and the flight path angle gammaE for convergence of target variables at the moon. The target variables include radial distance, rM, and inclination iM. The method also includes the step of iterating the forward targeting process until sufficient convergence to obtain the operational ballistic capture transfer from the earth or the earth orbit to the moon or the moon orbit.

Description

1. Field of the InventionThis invention relates in general to methods for space travel, and in particular, to methods for an object, such as a satellite, space craft, and the like, to be placed in lunar orbit around the moon, and / or orbit around other planets including earth.2. Background of the Related ArtThe study of motion of objects, including celestial objects, originated, in part, with Newtonian mechanics. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Newtonian mechanics, using a law of motion described by acceleration provided an orderly and useful framework to solve most of the celestial mechanical problems of interest for that time. In order to specify the initial state of a Newtonian system, the velocities and positions of each particle must be specified.However, in the mid-nineteenth century, Hamilton recast the formulation of dynamical systems by introducing the so-called Hamiltonian function, H, which represents the total energy of the system expressed in terms of the...

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